zagger

Just wondering if you have any positive/negative experiences with these things - and if you have one that you would recommend. https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Car-Battery-Jump-Starter/dp/B010MRCOL8/ref=sr_1_26?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1499873383&sr=1-26&keywords=jump+box There are lots of choices with all sorts of prices. After having a battery die, I'm thinking about getting one. zag

Maybe the higher priced, non-ethanol stuff, is old stale gas because nobody actually buys it! I sure don't. Only the cheapest junk goes in my gas powered stuff! zag

I'd be curious to know if crashes increased significantly in recent years now that maybe a third or more of car drivers are fiddling around with their cell phones while driving. Paying partial attention to driving cars while changing lanes and negotiating stop lights seems to me a likely source of cars crashing into bikes. About an hour ago I was driving my car home from the store and a line of cars making a left turn through a protected light ahead of me just kept on coming towards me even after their light changed to red and my light turned green. Lots of honking by other drivers. I don't waste time honking, I just look to take actions which improve my chances of survival. I'm always on "DEFCON 1" when I'm riding around cars - which I try to avoid by doing most of my bike riding on deserted back roads. I would bet that the majority of motorcycle crashes are the result of actions taken by cars around them on the road. zag

You might want to consider moving the foot controls forward so that your legs aren't crunched. My controls are 24 inches forward from the stock position and seat height doesn't matter very much. This arrangement is very comfortable for me. Of course, I don't have any plastic bodywork to work around - maybe forward controls wouldn't be possible on a stock bike. Just something to consider. zag

About a month ago I started out on the bike and saw black clouds heading my way. So I turned back home and was glad that I did. Big hail pounded down on my house - quite a few houses in my area needed new roofing. I cannot imagine trying to ride with these things dropping from the sky. zag

Ohhhhhh! That is a new one for me. Thanks! zag

OK, what does ctfw stand for? Searching online only got me "crazy taxi fare wars". zag

I used Dyna Beads in the past but getting them down the valve stem can be a real struggle. Seems like the OD of the beads and the ID of the valve stem are just too close. The beads tend to pile up in the valve stem and refuse to go down - except one by one in a line. Not so easy to do. I used a blunt electric engraver tool which vibrates to help with the process - some help but not total happiness. Then I asked myself why I was struggling so much for something which was supposed to be easier! Now I just use the weights and quit trying to be clever. zag

It's not going to rain is it? I wasn't planning to bring my galoshes. zag

See y'all real soon! zag

If you expect justice on the road while riding a bike, you are expecting too much. With a small movement of your right wrist, you can eliminate interference from nearby cars. Kicking cars is just nuts and will get nothing in return. Just peel out and leave 'em! zag

Geesh. Get on it and GO! zag

Illinois charges tolls on the main highways in the state. Of course, the exact same highways go through the neighboring states which do not charge tolls. If you don't want to stop at every toll booth along the way and pay even more, you are forced to buy an electronic "Ipass" which is supposed to automatically identify you as you drive through the toll area and deduct the toll from an amount that you have deposited in your Ipass account. The downside is that the Ipass things often don't work. So then you get a bill for $66 sent to the license plate owner on the car, instead of the normal ripoff charge of $6. You can search the Ipass website, find a phone number, and then wait on hold until hell actually freezes over in an attempt to correct the billing. Of course, you never will hear anything like, "Sorry for sending you such crappy equipment that you are forced to waste your day waiting on hold to sort out the billing!" I just got off the phone with the barely understandable foreign accented Ipass guy. After getting the erroneous charge removed, he then asks, "Is there anything else I can help you with?" I said, "Sure, how about removing the tolls on your highways so that Illinois is just like all of the other states in this part of the country?" Turns out that he cannot do that! Never would have guessed. On top of all that, Illinois is going bankrupt! http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2017/06/12/Could-Illinois-Be-First-State-Go-Bankrupt What a bunch of scheming losers! Sorry - just felt like venting and doing anything I can to dump on Illinois. If my wife's parents didn't live there, I would make every effort to never set foot in the state! F-em! zag

Plus - what you create yourself will suit you perfectly. Keep at it! zag

Hi, Decided not to haul my camping stuff and just made a reservation at Hickory Hill. See y'all on the 27th! zagger

Thanks! I originally modified the bike with extended hydraulic forks but hated the slow handling caused by 9 inches of trail on the front end. Although the leading link actually moves the front wheel even further forward, the trail is much shorter (around 3") and the handling is great. Strangely enough, the leading link even eliminated the "chopper flop" when the bike is parked. When I had the straight fork tubes, the front wheel would always twist all the way over to one side or the other when the bike was parked. Now it just sits there and has no tendency to go either way. Didn't expect that, but I do like it! zag

It's in the standard first generation location: under the seat. A small part sticks up in front of the seat with the gas tank filler and cap. Some people see that section and think it is the entire tank - one guy grumbled that his lawn mower had a bigger gas tank! zag

I rode the black beast to a nearby town for their annual car and bike show. The weather was a bit rough in the morning with heavy rain, but it finally cleared off and became just hot and humid. Lots of custom cars but only two custom bikes showed up and we both got awards. The award was presented by some young boy scouts who seemed very nervous and our picture was taken for the local paper. Pretty funny. Lots of inquisitive folks wondering what the heck they were looking at. Anyway, I did get a "suitable for framing" plaque and and card good for 10 car washes! Could be worse! zag

OK, so here is a hot weather phenomenon that might be hard to dress for: rain with big hail! Was thinking about going for a ride this afternoon, but a narrow line of rain made me stay home instead. Good thing too! The rain clouds got much bigger and when they got to my house it absolutely poured and dumped big hailstones. A picture of a couple of typical ones is attached. I wouldn't want to be trying to ride through those! Glad that everything was parked in the garage. zag

Well, thanks! I originally made a frame for the headlights out of steel bars but I had so many Harley riders ask me about the bike I eventually decided that I needed at least one Harley part - so I made a new frame using an old Harley primary chain (it's only two links wide so it's from a panhead, I think). It was supposed to be kind of a joke, but the joke was on me since I discovered that very few Harley owners even knew that they had a primary chain! When I pointed to the chain and told them that I had used one Harley part, most would say "You used a Harley timing chain?" I was forced to point out that Harley engines use long pushrods to operate the valves, not timing chains! Geesh! I originally figured that the lights surrounded by the chain would be my "high beams" and a pair of smaller lights mounted a bit lower would be my "low beams". The high beams had fairly high wattage bulbs and could light up the road like aircraft landing lights. That is pretty useful around here where deer by the road at night are a serious concern. However, a cop pulled me over and gave me a ticket for "not having my headlights on" even though the two lower lights were burning brightly. I pointed to them and was told that they were "running lights", not headlights. What can you say? I just shut-up and put lower wattage bulbs in the upper headlights and aimed them at bit more to the right so that I wouldn't blind oncoming cars. I guess I deviated a bit too far from "typical" and had to be brought back into line! zag

Geesh. I cannot remember. It was a used one from an old Yamaha - mostly with the hope that the cable and housing would match. Since I have extended front forks, I had to add an extension to the drive cable. Even though I tried to get one from a similar sized drive wheel, the speedometer reads about 10% faster than I'm actually going. Not too hard to do the mental math to figure out my actual speed. I guess that the main thing is to find one which has compatible threads and internals on the cable connection. zag

All the gear, all the time. Whatever the temp, I wear kevlar long johns under my jeans, kevlar socks, armored jacket, leather gloves, and full face helmet. Total overkill until something happens. FYI - I've been riding for 46 years with no smashups. As a bad example of what can happen, about a year ago my sister-in-law's brother was riding in a rural area when a truck pulled out of a field just in front of the bike riders. A few guys went down, including him. Leg and foot ground down and eventually amputated. Just got to see him and his new metal leg a couple of weeks ago. Kinda limps along with a cane. He was a professional truck driver and never wore anything special for riding his bike. He felt that it was under control and with his driving record, it was obviously true. Right until it wasn't. Was out riding this afternoon with some friends and the road was blocked by cop cars and an ambulance. Bike down a few yards off in a field. No idea of the cause. Ya just never know. I suggest that you find gear that you can live with. And then just use the stuff. zag

I understand your logic, however rejetting the carbs is a common necessity after the exhaust is changed. An exhaust system which has less resistance to the flow of exhaust will require jetting which increases the amount of fuel entering the engine. I guess the best way to understand this is that the exhaust valves require time to open and close and during their closing period the intake valves are starting to open. For a split second there is a direct path between the intake and exhaust. If the pipes allow gases to flow freely, then the loss of intake charge is increased. It is extremely common that carbs need to be rejetted richer after changing to more open exhaust pipes. A big pain, but true. For most commercially available pipes there is an "accepted" rejetting suggested by other users. If you get into totally custom stuff, then it might be necessary to get an air/fuel sensor and gauge so that you can actually measure what is going on. Not trivial since it requires a threaded connection to be welded into the exhaust. I had to do that with my bike. zag

All of the wiring in the picture was identified and then removed. I just put back what was necessary to allow the bike to run. Not having big plastic fairings to hide wiring meant that the final wiring needed to be routed carefully. zag

Nothing special for sealing. It just has brass connection points with threaded holes so that you can clamp down a cable with a metal tab. http://www.batterymart.com/p-odyssey-pc545mj-battery.html Keep in mind that none of this works simply with stock venture components. Everything is custom made to suit the installation. I just liked the feeling of a lower bike weight due to the heavy stuff sitting low in the bike. Here is a picture of the area which would typically hold the battery.